Francisco battle with ERMS
Francisco was born June 18,2018, a healthy baby boy. He is a very smart careing boy, very playfull and loveable to all. He’s shy at times but after he warms up to you he wont leave you alone. He love’s to be the center of attention when walking into a room. He loves to dance and watch the Teletubbies all day on his tablet. He always smiled even when he didn’t feel well. His is a laugh that will grab anyones attention. Franciscos was diagnosed just a month after his 1st birthday with Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS) stage 2. Shortly after comeing home from our little family vacation from California. Francisco too his very first steps. I was working at the time and didn’t spend much time with my kids as i used to, and one night i was puting Francisco to sleep and i was rubbing his leg when i felt something odd. I moved the blanket and notice a ball like lump on his left leg. I didn’t think to much of but still set an apointment for him. The doctor said it was a cyst, but i knew it was more then a cyst deep down. We brought him home thinking it will go away. Later that night i noticed he didnt want to crawl or anything and he was pulling at his leg where the lump was. At this point the lump has grown just a bit more then this first time I found it. Right away i told my husband to take me to the ED (Emergency Department). They got him in right away, and ran some blood work and touched and messed with his leg, he didn’t have any pain but was uncomfortable. They did a Ultra sound on his leg and i knew from the doctors face that something wasn’t right. I asked him “Is everything alright?’’ and he told me he couldnt give us any information till someone looked over the images. We waited a bit longer and they come back to tell us we are getting admitted to the 6th floor. I asked what was on the 6th floor and he said it was the pedis hemoc floor. Of course at the time i didn’t know what that ment. He said it was the cancer floor for children. I quickly said ‘’HE HAS CANCER?’’ and he told me they aren’t sure what is going on and that it would be faster to send him there and get test and such faster through there. We agreed, i knew right away my worst fear was yet to be confirmed. The next day doctors came in to tell us that they need to run some more test on his leg but that it is a soft tissue tumor. They keept sugar coating everything and saying hell be okay. As the days follwed he had MRI, CT and after those they said they need to do a Biopsy of the sight as well as a bone marrow Biopsy. He got the Biopsy of the tumor and they told us we can go home and that we should get the results within a week.... A week past and still no news on hos Biopsy, by now I was getting worried and impatiant and calling the doctor to see if anything has come in. 1 1/2 week...... no results 2 week’s...... no results 2 1/2 week’s....... On 07/30/2019 at 7:53 pm. I remember that night like it was yesterday,We didin’t expect recive the news that or son who was just barley a year old had cancer. I tried to keep myself composed and togeather as I was on the phone with his doctor as she went along to tell me the fist steps and plan to get him started on treatment. That night was a blur as was the next few months. Two day’s later on 08/01/2019 he is going through surgery to have a Power port placed in his chest to recive all his chemotherapy,antibiotics,medicine need to treat him through his cancer journey. He was uncomfortable for the first 3 days and then he was okay. The next day after he got his Power port placed in he began chemotherapy. He began so soon after to try and shrink the tumor and to prent the spread of his cancer. He contiuned to do intese chemotherapy weekly and for the first year he did monthly chemotherapy for 5 days of each month back to back, as well as some over night chemotherapy. After about a month of doing chemotherapy and a very small decrease of the tumor he went in for another surgery. This time it was to remove the tumor from his leg, it was the longest 2 hour wait for us. He was in a cast/splint for a few months i think till about Febuary of 2020. He learned how to walk again in the hospital, when he shouldn’t have had to learn how to walk again period. Even though he went through such a extrem surgery he still pulled himself togeather and pushed himself past what his limits where set to be. On top of all that in late October we got sent to Phoniex Childrens Hospital to live at Ronald Mcdonolds House for 23 day’s. We lived in Phoniex for that time for him to recive 20 day’s of Proton Radiation to his tumor sight.The surgery sight was larger then expected, as well as a longer recovery involing its delays of a skin infecton. The skin infection caused his surgery site to swell and open with a lot of pain, and the swelling was cause of the Radiation. After 20 long day’s of Radiation he rang the bell of finishing Radation, and came back home. After comeing home he contuined the intese chemotherapy in and out of the hospital. He took it all like a superman that he is. When flu season came around he got his flu shot but even though he got the shot his low imune system caused him to get the FLU B virus. He had high fevers for a week haveing to be on antibiotics and tamaflu, with cool showers,ice,wet wash cloths. It was one of the many speed bumps we had to face of many. This year he was faced with the common cold Coronavirus, (Not COVID-19) He handled it well for 2 weeks. This year he bang the gong on the 6th floor celebrating no more in-patient chemothereapy. With in patient chemotherapy ending he began his 6 month plan to do at hom chemothereapy as well as continue out paitient chemotherapy. For the first 4 months he had fevers after haveing week breaks and starting back up, but is always fighting and not giving up. He is so close to finishing and being in remission yet it feels so far, but soon our fat boy will bang the gong again with a sigh of relif. His battle will never be over and he will fight this battle cancer free for the rest of his life, with life time follow ups of scans and test, but no mater what we will be here every step of the way for him.
